We are so lucky to have a place to truly get away from it all. Camp Leadbetter on Lobster lake Maine, No cell phone service, no TVs, a 2 seater outhouse, a beach, countless places to explore, climb, hik, and the most beautifully simple cabins. The mini is full and the passengers are ready (we love this place, but I'm quite certain Pauli's love for camp is even greater!)
Since we have to bring the trash home with you-if you still poop in your pants it makes it MUCH more difficult for everyone....sorry drew, one more year. Have fun with Oma Sue and Goomba.
This is our second year in a row. I loved watching the kids excitement as we hit the gravel road. Not the mention the bag of Doritos we opened (and beer) as part of a new gravel road tradition. Here was our first wildlife sighting.
We made the same wrong turn that we did last year and recovered quickly, we arrived within 20 minutes of Liz and Tam with whom we didn't plan or schedule with and they were driving from a different direction. I am surprised we didn't see them on the golden road. We told Chris's folks we should arrive around 5pm, when we weren't there by 5:30 (remember, no communication) Barbara sent Wyland out searching for us. It was odd driving in and not seeing the signature Leadbetter Denali, and seeing a white SUV made me a bit more concerned so I followed the kids onto the beach. 10 minutes later Wyland showed up with Liz and Tam so I'm glad his search was successful!! Chris's aunt and uncle (Emily and Alex) over lapped a night with us. It was great catching up with them for an evening.
The cool thing about Maine, you pack summer and chilly stuff, sometimes you wear nothing but summer, sometimes nothing but chilly, and sometimes both.... You never know, this particular week was rather breezy and someways downright windy.
Here was our brief stint in the lake,
The first day we all needed to do NOTHING! It was perfect just to sit and talk. The kids loved every bit of exploring without much direction from us. They were thrilled to have their cousins and we were thrilled to catch up with the adults. We were also thrilled by nicks beer delivery service.
When left to their own imagination the kids came up with all kinds of great things. Here is the sandbox they built for Shane. My only concern during the week was a game they developed called 'kick face'. Not a lot of explanation needed there,,,
Here is the crew on 'ninja rock'. Nick and Seb made all this rock climbing look easy, Wyn and Shane where is a constant state of keeping up.
Not all memories are captured on the camera but in my desire to keep them forever i. wanted write this one down.
First hiking expedition to grandmas camp. It's a chilly day, most of us are in pants, early in our visit. It's about a 35 minute hike, 25 minutes into it we came to what is normally a bridged steam outlet (into the lake) crossing. The bridge was washed away. At the moment the only crossing option was to wade (or swim rather) the 15' distance in water hopefully no greater than 3' deep. Chris and Tam searched for a fallen tree to bridge the gap and found one with a 4' diameter-not terribly helpful. Chris offered to carry us all across. I hadn't said anything as honestly I assumed we would all head back and try again later, I mean, what's the rush, we were just exploring right?
Exploration noted, need larger log for next time...
Yeah right,,,
Chris carried the kids across, Tam, Wyland and Barbara wetly waded across and than there was Liz and I.
I was TOTALY comfortable with my 'grab me on the way back plan' when Liz came up with the best idea yet.....
Lets just take off our pants and walk across, therefore nothing will get wet. No cameras?? DONE! Great idea Liz!!
One of the many fishing expeditions greatly enjoyed by the boys.
A little bit of nature under the beach picnic table.
Happy fishing boys! Come back with more than empty beer cans;)
Camp is the place to indulge in things you never normally have time for, minor restriction being electricity. Liz managed to over come this with a battery pack charger that amped up her sewing machine and knocked out a beautiful quilt!!
This is Pauli's smiling photo. Happiest dog on the planet.
Kid project #2... As we all look forward to them being more helpful at camp (and not us continually catering to them) they asked for a camp fire, we said, sure--you build it---guess what, they did!! And it was the best camp fire I've seen. Dug into the beach and complete with a brick ring surrounding it. They had smaller wood pieces under their thicker ones that made the teepee. It only required one piece of paper and a match to light and burred for the entire evening of marshmallow roasting. Well don't kids!
After a few days of minimal adventure we woke up the next morning and everyone had a plan.
It was just all very different,
Chris and Tam wanted some kid less fishing time.
Wyland and Barbara wanted to head to Raymond's to change out a few propane tanks.
That left Liz and I with the 4 kids and a desire to hit grandmas camp (not via hiking this time). However the boat we needed was overturned, higher on the beach and the heavy motor still in the boat house. The husbands said they would set us up before their fishing expedition, however their desire to get started caused them to forget.... Liz and I have never been labeled as feeble, and we were no doubt determined, so we flipped the boat, dragged it down, carried the motor and set our selves up. She than told me she wanted to test the motor before we suited up the kids--great idea--as she got the motor started she quickly waved to me and said--see ya sucker (as I was about to be left of the island with the 4 kids). Yup! I won right? Thankfully that was her quip at humor as she came back for me and the kids. Here was our first boat trek to grandmas cabin.
We came back to this on the front porch!! Nice perch boys!
ready for funny memory # 3? Big boys (Tam and Chris) standing on the point watching circling eagle and dead fish floating below, hoping that eagle dives for dead fish. Liz and I went around the house to see what the little dudes were up to... Well they had taken this cooler, opened the lid and were hiding behind the other coolers hoping the eagle would see this fish and swoop down. Hysterical.
Wyn got a little mamma love after a minor run in with a table--not after playing kick face I should add,
Some of the beautiful scenery that you never get tired of.
We (Liz, Tam, Seb, Wyn, Chris, Nick, Shane and I) all spent a night at grandmas camp. It was perfect as the cabin has 4 bedrooms, a kitchen and family room all contained so the kids could fall asleep knowing we were all together. The fact that the water system wasn't working correctly made life for eating and cleaning much better at the Leadbetter camp. But the view from our window s amazing and I dreamed off moose walking by as we slept in grandmas old room that is located close the where the moose often walk by on their trek to the lake.
Speaking of water issues, projects are often a great bonding experience and a chance to transfer the knowledges rom one generation to the next. Lets see if we can get the tee system working at grandmas camp. Chris takes the opportunity to be on the other side of the pipe.
Can you see the net around Liz's face? one of the reasons we don't often stay at grandmas camp is the BUGS!! because the wind is limited and the moisture abundant the bugs are plentiful and hungry. We got to experience it all!
Now lets fill'er up.
See the source of the water problem? Those are beaver teeth in the hose....beaver 3 (holes) water system 0 (to be continued.... Next year...)
Back home.
The skies started to look a bit more threatening so Chris and liz boated back out to grandmas camp to recollect our stuff so we would sleep back at Leadbetter camp (keeping up with these transitions?). I love these photos because of the sky and water color,
Here's a cool series of photos that notes what a cool grandma Barbara is. Activity # 1- treasure hunt-clues written so grandsons can read them.
Activity #2, always a a captivating book reader
Activity #3 shows you the real diversity in her repitoire.
Gotta have a day of hiking, here we go to lobster lake.
Worth the view!! You can see the beaches of Leadbetter camp across the way
We did some toad catching up the hill.
There were several of the little dudes,
I'm pretty sure the boys would trip over their own feet while watching for toads and not the actual trail.
Love these 3 heads
And this guy too.
Great family hike
With the wind still blustering at Leadbetter camp, loaded the boats and explored 'tibs' rock for a little blueberries picking and rock climbing and all around chatting. Tam got all artistic with the camera.
About 2 seconds after he took this photo
This guy jumped in and gracefully swam across. It's the BEAVER! Lets get him;)
The next day means the end of a week away. Time to pack up no drive home. One more chance for a few photos to remember our week together.
Great looking bunch
A -1 family photo
Leadbetter camp 2013!
Thanks for the effort on all parties. We are so lucky to have this time as an extended family and to really connect on a different level for all of us.
A little lobster roll in Portland ME on the way home is the true icing on the family cake.
